Religious Habits of Mind

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Religious Habits of Mind / Spiritual Practices
(Lifelong religious skills)

Doctrine of Charity 174-175
The externals of the body which pertain to worship are:
  1. Frequenting temples.
  2. Listening to sermons.
  3. Devoutly singing, and praying on the knees.
  4. Partaking the Sacrament of the Supper.
And at home:
  1. Prayer morning and evening, and at dinners and suppers.
  2. Conversing with others about charity and faith, and about God, heaven, eternal life, and salvation. (And in the case of priests, preaching, and also private instruction.)
  3. And with everyone, the instruction of children and servants in such matters.
  4. Reading the Word, and books of instruction and of piety.
The externals of the mind which pertain to worship are:
  1. Thought and meditation concerning God, and concerning heaven, eternal life, and salvation.
  2. Reflection upon one's thoughts and intentions, as to whether they are evil or good, and that the evil are from the devil, and the good from God.
  3. Aversion of one's mind from impious, obscene, and filthy language.
  4. Besides thoughts, there are also affections which come to the sight and sense of a person.

1. Seeing the Lord
  • a. See the Lord in the order of His creation
  • b. Have a clear mental picture of the Lord that reflects the spiritual qualities that we know about Him
  • c. Recognize the indicators that the Lord might use to alert them to give help to someone else
  • d. Recognize and articulate the ways in which the Lord can guide and care for someone their age
  • e. Identifying and appreciating the Lord’s blessings, the good in others, and the good that can come from bad things: attitude of gratitude
2. Ability to effectively turn to the Lord in prayear.

3. Reading and reflecting on the Word daily with affection and understanding
    1. Have a habit of turning to the Word for guidance and comfort
    2. Explain the difference between the Word and good books for the church
    3. Read the Word with affection and recognize the feelings involved
4. Engage with affection in worship
    1. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy
    2. Frequent sacred spaces and make time for quiet reflection
    3. Lead classroom worship
5. Embrace marriage between one man and one wife as the precious jewel of human life and the repository of the Christian religion
      1. Understand the concept of chastity in marriage
      2. Appreciate the unique distinction of qualities between masculine and feminine
      3. Show respect for the opposite sex and for marriage
      4. Honoring children, family, procreation and marriage
      5. Resist pornography and wandering lust and choose chastity
6. Daily spiritual life skills
a. Perspectives
i. Be discerning without prejudice
ii. Not exclude people based on appearances
iii. See and apply the connection of the spiritual and natural worlds – where my ideas are coming from
iv. Recognize and use the ability to choose differently from the thoughts, feelings, actions, the environment first inclines them to
v. Humility
vi. Distinguishing between guilt and shame
vii. Distinguish the difference between evil and sin
viii. Balance between independence and cooperation/collaboration
ix. Valuing and protecting innocence – their own and others
x. Appropriate caring about what other people think
xi. Growing ability to separate what is their responsibility and what is the Lord’s responsibility
xii. Trust and courage
xiii. Identifying and not crossing micro-boundaries
xiv. Valuing freedom and learning to make good choices – we have options
xv. Commitment, perseverance, and faithfulness in relationships
xvi. Understand that we are vessels who are responsible for the influences we receive
xvii. Shun contempt for others and embrace the concept that everyone can change
xviii. Forgiveness
xix. There is a marriage in everything and it’s all about balance
xx. Do not delight in violence – real or otherwise

b. Actions
i. Confidently speak out against disorderly behavior
ii. Listen to others with understanding and compassion
iii. Know the steps of repentance and know how to apply them
      • Recognize and articulate the spiritual challenges/enemies/evils and false ideas that are significant in their present life.
      • Self-examination
iv. Be able to apologize
v. Appropriately expressing one’s emotions and thoughts
vi. Following rules
vii. Make life choices from the integrity of following the 10 Commandments
viii. Practice the principle that all religion is of life and that the life of religion is to do that which is good
      • Value and delight in usefulness
ix. Living in the world but not being of the world
x. Teach each other (peers and/or younger students)
xi. Benefactions – knowing appropriate ways to volunteer our services
xii. Difference between helping and cheating

7. Explain:
    1. who Swedenborg is and his place in our church’s history
    2. New Church theology
    3. Speak openly about the Lord in their conversations
    4. Tell stories about heaven
    5. Comfortably share some of their NewChurch ideas in a conversation at a public school cafeteria

7. Be able to place the main stories of scripture in a timeline